


A study in Friendship

by DisorganizedKitten



Series: Red's the Color of Your Heart [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Anti-Sabrina and Chloe, Gen, Give Sabrina friends!, I love Chloe but right now we're loving Sabrina, If Marinette had been able to get a word in edgewise, Liberal timeskips, No Plot/Plotless, On Wednesdays We Make Friends, Sabrina-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 13:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17447960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisorganizedKitten/pseuds/DisorganizedKitten
Summary: After standing up to Chloe for the first time, Sabrina latches onto Marinette as a best friend. After all, when you have to pick only one person to be friends with, the one who values you is actually a really good choice.But maybe it's possible to have more than one? Marinette sure doesn't seem to mind sharing.





	1. At the harbor

**Author's Note:**

> And here we are, with chapter one of the first work in my Sabrina-centric series!  
> Updates will be on Wednesdays and Wednesdays only, to honor the BROTP server which was a huge help with this, but I can't promise which Wednesdays. We'll probably skip a few weeks.  
> Also the episode rewrite part will probably die in chapter two, and then we go into headcanons and fluff territory.  
>  That said, happy reading!  
> ~DK

Sabrina shifted her weight nervously as she waited for the crossing light to turn green. Marinette still hadn’t answered her!

Then again, Chloe only answered her if she was being helpful, so maybe she wasn’t being helpful enough? But what else could she do to be helpful for Marinette? She had done an extra set of geometry homework for Chloe, but if she wasn’t letting Chloe make her do stuff for her, then maybe she could give the homework to Marinette?

Yeah! Marinette would appreciate that! She was always so stressed about getting everything done, and a set of geometry homework pre-done would help her feel less stressed.

Yes, that would work. Of course it would. It worked with Chloe, and they were best friends. And she and Marinette were becoming best friends. But Marinette would be an even better best friend, because she was kinder.

The light turned green and Sabrina hurried over. If she could catch Marinette and give her the homework, then maybe they could hang out! Using the time that would be saved because of the finished homework, of course. She couldn't intrude upon Marinette's personal time! And then they could study together, which got more schoolwork done, leaving them both free for whatever Marinette wanted to do next. Maybe they could go paint nails, or style hair, or take selfies!

And then-

The door opened, and she came face to face with a very startled Marinette. “Oh! Sabrina. What are you doing here?”

Oh no. Was she not welcome? Oh she’d overstepped her bounds hadn’t she? Marinette was going to hate her. “Sorry,” she paused. She needed to come up with a reason, and one Marinette wouldn’t be mad about. “I was just waiting for you. Did you get my messages?”

Marinette looked uncomfortable, but nodded “Yes! Yes, of course, I was just going to call you back.”

Sabrina’s heart jumped. “Really? I knew you would! Eventually,” she reached into her bag and pulled out the homework folder. “And so,” Deep breath, Marinette would like it. “I did your Geography homework for you!”

Marinette stepped back. “Whoa! You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well since you’re my new best friend, it’s the least I can do,” Sabrina assured her, ignoring the snake that was whispering in her head. Marinette would like it. They were  _ friends. _ Of course she would.

“Thanks, but I just can’t.”

“Really?” Sabrina’s heart sunk. Doing each others work was what friends did! If she couldn’t do Marinette’s work, and help her, then- were they really friends? Could they stay friends?

“Really. Sabrina, I’m thankful for the offer, but I can’t let you do my work for me. Friends help each other when it’s needed, they don’t give all the work to one person. Thank you, but I can’t accept this. You did the work, you should get the credit.”

“Oh.” Sabrina took a deep breath. Marinette wanted to be friends. Friends don’t do what Sabrina just did. Oh, Sabrina was a bad friend, wasn’t she? Well, she just had to be better then, didn’t she? “Okay. Do you want to work on the physics project tonight?”

Marinette bit her lip. “Uhh, I’m really sorry Sabrina, but I’ve got something really important I have to do and it has to be done tonight.”

“Oh.” Was Sabrina that bad of a friend? Marinette was treating her just like- Chloe did. Was Marinette just using her too? She felt that snake rise up in her throat. Sabrina had already stood up to Chloe today, and her fighting streak wasn’t over yet. She would not take this lying down! “Something really important? Really? Do you know who else uses that excuse all the time, don’t you?”

Marinette shook her head. “No.”

“Chloe!” Sabrina snapped, ignoring any pain that came from getting upset at her no-longer-new-friend. “I’m beginning to see just how similar you two are! I bet you’re just waiting so you can make me do all the work on the project too, aren’t you?”

“No!” Marinette snapped back. Sabrina flinched. But she wouldn’t let Marinette walk all over her too.

“I can’t believe I thought you actually wanted to help me!”

“I do!” Marinette shot back, her composure slipping. “I’m not trying to ditch you, I promise! But something came up that I can’t get out of!”

Sabrina felt the fight leave her. Of course, what was she thinking? Marinette wasn’t like that. Sabrina had spied on her enough she should know that.

“I’ll be free tomorrow, if you want to get together to work then.”

“Hello there!” Both girls jumped as a figure landed beside them. “Oh, I hope I didn’t interrupt something important?”

“Oh, there you are,” Marinette smiled at the newcomer. “I’ll be right with you, after Sabrina and I figure this out, okay?”

Sabrina’s eyes flicked between Marinette and the newcomer, trying to not choke on her disbelief.  Marinette...... had just addressed Chat Noir! Like they were friends! And she brushed him off for her! Did that mean Marinette liked her? Wait, if she liked her more than a superhero…. Sabrina gasped. Marinette liked her more than a superhero!

Chloe had never done that. She always valued spending time with Ladybug, who she claimed was her 1st BFF, with Sabrina as her second. But Marinette was prioritizing her over Chat Noir!

“Why is Chat Noir here?” Sabrina asked, doing her best to keep her cool.

Chat Noir grinned at her, “Your friend here is helping me defeat the akuma from earlier.”

“Akuma?” Sabrina gasped. From earlier..? Oh! The one at the Library! “Is that the same one who crashed our study party?”

“That would be the one, turns out he’s crushing on this princess here. Good thing I’m here to protect her.” Chat turned slightly and flexed.

Sabrina turned to Marinette, worried and awed. Awed, because Chat Noir was here personally to have Marinette’s help. Worried because Sabrina hated it when Chloe was targeted by an Akuma, and now Marinette would be too, and she hated that thought even more.

Marinette was so sweet, and if she got hurt- It would be worse than when Chloe got hurt.

Sabrina felt guilt settle in her stomach at the thought. Chloe had always been her best friend, and now she was wishing that this Akuma was attacking Chloe instead! Some best friend she was. Ex-best friend.

“That’s not safe!”

“I’ll be okay Sabrina. I already got him to swear off violence as long as I show up tonight, so we should be fine,” Marinette assured her.

Sabrina wasn't convinced. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Even if that guy decided to still attack you-”

“It’s Nathanael, Chat, and he’s calling himself Evillistrator currently,” Marinette cut in, rolling her eyes. How was Marinette so casual with a superhero?!

Chat continued as if she hadn’t, “-I’ll be with you to protect you.”

“I know you will. Although we still need to have a plan for when I meet up with him,” Marinette reminded, before turning back to Sabrina. “I’m sorry for the interruption. I think we were trying to pick a time to study together tomorrow?”

Sabrina nodded, barely staying out of a stupor. “Um, yes! What times are you free? I’m free all day, if you want to just call me whenever!”

Marinette pursed her lips. “I don’t know. If you decide to do something fun tomorrow, I don’t want to yank you away in the middle.”

“It’d be no problem, really!” Sabrina assured her eagerly, watching Chat out of the corner of her eye. He looked somewhere between proud and put-out.

“It is a problem though Sabrina! You deserve to enjoy yourself too, and I can’t just make your schedule bend around mine. That would be really unfair to you. I’m sure we can find a time that you like, and not just because I said so.”

Sabrina thought for a moment. Well, she had been wanting to spend the morning before school with her dad since he had the day off, but in the afternoon she had been planning a spa day with Chloe, which was obviously cancelled, so. “Could we meet up in the library around three? Or we could do over lunch if you’d like that, I don’t have anywhere to be during lunch since I’m not helping Chloe anymore.”

“Do you want to join Alya, the boys and I for lunch? Then we can either hang out or work on the project, and if we just play around then we can work more in the afternoon?” Marinette suggested.

“Oh could I?” Sabrina asked hopefully. “Will the others be okay with it?”

Marinette shrugged. “We’re not really territorial with lunch groups, but I can ask them if you’re worried.”

“Oh thank you!” Sabrina hugged Marinette. She was so Lucky to have her as a friend. Much better than Chloe. She had asked Sabrina about her own schedule! Chloe had only done that once a quarter, at most.

“Of course,” Marinette said, hugging her back. Sabrina wanted to squeal. The amazing Marinette was hugging her! Because they were friends! “And I’ll either text you tonight or talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

Best Day Ever!

“Okay! Thank you so much Marinette!” Sabrina let go of Marinette and made sure her papers were in order. “I’m so glad we figured that out. See you tomorrow, Bestie!” Sabrina started to leave.

“See you!” Marinette said happily, waving.

“Oh, and Chat Noir?” Sabrina paused, turning just enough to fix the superhero with a stare. “Please keep her safe.”

“Of course. I’m the best of best. No harm will come to your friend.”

Sabrina smiled at him, and started back to the crosswalk. The light was red now, so she turned back again. Marinette and Chat were talking now, Chat’s back to Sabrina while Marinette mimed something like she so often did. Sabrina waved, not sure Marinette would see it but wanting to say goodbye again.

Marinette caught her eye and waved back with a smile, before rejoining her conversation with Chat Noir.

The light turned green, and Sabrina crossed, leaving Marinette behind for the afternoon. Her  _ friend _ Marinette. Who she would get to hang out with tomorrow. And who wanted her to hang out and make more friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Marinette didn't fangirl here. She's seen all to much how Chloe does, and as much as she'd love to boost Chat's ego, right now helping Sabrina is more important.


	2. Testing the waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A- update schedules are hard. B- I think I figured it out over the week I missed. We'll see if I stay consistent. C-I forgot they were in the locker room until I was practically done with the chapter, so for all intents and purposes Sabrina didn't need to get anything from her locker for this period, but Marinette and Adrien still had their talk, as did Chloe and Alya.

Sabrina stared at her bedroom ceiling, going over yesterday again in her head.

Most days, she would already be on her feet, bouncing around her room to make completely sure she had finished all of her and Chloe's homework, found a good outfit, and was ready to spend an hour running errands.

But not today.

It felt really weird to have downtime.

Sabrina's phone had been going off incessantly all night, and was picking up steam to do so it again, but she hadn't picked it up. She wanted to edit her schedule, wanted to check on whether or not she could actually eat lunch with Marinette - Sabrina was still riding the high from having made such a good friend yesterday - but she knew that if she picked it up, she would get pulled back into Chloe's clutches.

It was how she lost last time.

And so she continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to quell her racing thoughts. Had Marinette gotten out okay last night? Would Nino hold a grudge? What was Chloe going to do when they saw each other? _Sat by each other?_  And the traitorous thoughts wondering if Marinette had changed her mind overnight.

Chloe was probably still angry at Sabrina. And she would stay that way. Because Sabrina wasn’t going to grovel for forgiveness this time. She deserved better than to be treated as a servant.

Didn’t she?

She briefly entertained the idea of picking up her phone and blocking Chloe’s contracts on all medias, but that would take between fifteen minutes and half an hour, and there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t read something Chloe sent in the process.

Maybe she could ask her dad too. But then he might look into Chloe for harassment, and while Sabrina was still upset at Chloe and firm in her decision to sever ties, she didn’t want to go _that_ far. Not to mention the Mayor might try to fire Dad if he tried to get Chloe in trouble.

Which nixed that option.

Speaking of Dad…. “Hey Deputy, when are you meeting up with your friend today?”

Oh. And there was that. He had worked late last night, so she hadn’t been able to tell him about the change. Well, there was her activity for the morning!

“Around lunchtime,” Sabrina replied, the joy in her voice only partially forced as she twisted to look at Roger. “Can we have breakfast together?”

“Of course! I’ll start an extra helping.” he ducked back out of her doorway, presumably headed to the kitchen.

Sabrina sat up at last, compartmentalizing her thoughts so that she could enjoy some time with her dad. Their schedules didn’t often overlap like this, she should make the best of it. Especially since her schedule was so much more relaxed than a normal relaxed schedule thismorning.

She walked over to her dresser, near silently, to pick out today’s accessory; she hovered over her usual white headband, before switching it out for a flower she had gotten from Marinette as a birthday present years ago. She’d never managed to give it away, even as she built a rift between herself and the other classmates at Chloe’s side.

She was really, really lucky Marinette had decided to become her friend. That was a lot of distance to bridge. And she would put in the needed work. They both deserved at least that.

Sabrina clipped it into her hair and headed out to enjoy breakfast with her Dad. A rare occurrence that might not be quite so rare anymore. It was a possibility that made her smile.

***

‘I’m planning on having Sabrina over for lunch too, is that okay with you?’ The message had gone out to three different numbers, all of which replied with some version of yes. Alya had been skeptical but proud of her for trying, Nino said he’d try it, and Adrien thought it was a good idea.

Which were the reactions Marinette had expected, mostly. She hadn’t expected Adrien to be quite this happy about it, but she would take it.

Hopefully the stutter wouldn’t be too bad today She needed to focus on bridging the gap between Sabrina and Nino. And Alya, but Alya hadn’t met nearly as much of the attacks from Chloe and Sabrina as Nino and Marinette had.

***

Sabrina got to school earlier than usual. She didn’t want to coincide with Chloe’s time of arrival, but Marinette didn’t have a set time to get to school, so Sabrina couldn’t plan for that. She just had to get there early and wait.

Which brought up where she would be waiting.

Logically, she knew that she had picked her seat earlier in the year, and should stick to it. But dread pooled in her stomach at the thought of sitting beside Chloe for hours every day now that they were no longer friends.

The main question was if Mme. Bustier would _allow_ her to move, and if anyone would want her sitting beside them.

With Marinette as her only friend, and Alya sitting by Marinette, it was unlikely she would be greeted warmly. Although Ivan or Nathaniel might let her sit beside them and ignore her, which would be leagues better than having to still sit by Chloe. Plus, Marinette was right in front of them!

Yes, she would try that.

Sabrina skipped up the staircase, turning at the banister, almost colliding with someone.

“Morning Sabrina!”

She blinked at Nino, unsure of his sudden warmth towards her. “Morning?”

“Marinette said you’re joining us for lunch, any requests?”

“Not really.” Sabrina shook her head, still unsure. This was new. And it happened fast.

“Alright, see you then!” Nino waved and continued on his way, as though that was completely ordinary. It was.. nice, to not be treated like a demon or a bomb.

Were- were people really going to be that forgiving already?  Sabrina tightened her grip on her bag in excitement.

Mme. Bustier was already seated at her desk when Sabrina entered the Classroom, so she got straight to arguing her case. She didn’t have Chloe to make the teacher bend to their will anymore, so she had to actually use her intellect. “Mme. Bustier, I’d like to switch seats. I know that it’s not time for the midsemester switch, and that you rarely do the midsemester switch anyways, but I would feel much better if I was sitting in the middle right row instead of up front where I was.”

Mme. Butsier looked towards the seats in question, where only Ivan was at the moment. “I don’t see a problem with you moving, but we will have to check with Ivan first, alright?”

“Alright!” Sabrina nodded, surprised at how easily Mme. Bustier had caved. She didn’t have to use most of her arguments! Which was good, all things considered. It would be obvious soon, but she needed a little while to mentally prepare before plainly announcing to everyone else that she was done being friends with Chloe.

They made their way up to Ivan’s desk, where Mme. Bustier asked his opinion on the switch. Ivan grunted noncommittally, but nodded. Sabrina sighed quietly. Two hurdles passed. “Thank you!” She slid onto the bench, pulling her bag up in front of her too.

Ivan grunted again, and this time Sabrina could almost make out words at the low volume.

Mme. Bustier had reached her desk again when Nino returned, headphones pulled up and an argument in the form of Kim and Alix following him. Sabrina scanned the classroom to pass time, seeing who else was there. Rose, Juleka, and Max, were already in their seats, and Mylene was at the edge of Rose and Juleka’s desk, happily chattering about a music show.

Sabrina hoped Marinette could get here soon. She wanted to talk like that, although she didn’t know what Marinette might want to talk about. Maybe fashion? Or flowers! Marinette liked those, right? And Sabrina knew plenty about flowers, Chloe had liked them too.

She crossed her arms, leaning her chin on them as she watched and waited for her best friend to come through the door. It would probably be a little while, Marinette lived really close, but almost always got to school second to last. Probably taking advantage of her proximity to the school to spend more time at home.

Sabrina should do that too. Time her trek to school so that she arrived just a little bit before Marinette did, and they could go in together like Sabrina and Chloe used to!

A hand slammed onto her desk, shaking her out of her thoughts. Sabrina focused on it, recognizing it as Chloe’s. She must have really zoned out, if she missed Chloe walking in.

“There you are! Did Dupain-Cheng steal your phone yesterday or something? I’ve been calling you for ages! That horrid Akuma attacked me again, and Ladybug and Chat Noir just destroyed my room! The only good thing that came of it was me featuring on Cesaire’s blog. I’m going to need so much retail therapy for this, and you _have_ to come with me.”

Sabrina took a deep breath, and then looked straight at Chloe. This would be so much easier with Marinette to back her up, but she still had a backbone of her own and she would use it. “Take Jean-Claude with you. We’re not friends anymore, remember?”

Chloe scoffed. “Come on, you’re still on that? Dupain-Cheng was just upset about the work portioning. She’s so quarrelsome!”

“Marinette is super nice! She’s been a much better friend in the eighteen hours since she became my friend than you were all year.” Sabrina didn't mention the Akuma, but only barely. Her job wasn't to spy and reveal secrets anymore.

“You’re just being ridiculous, Sabrina!”

Sabrina opened her mouth to retort, tell her that _No, she wasn’t being ridiculous,_ and _Yes, she was actually done being Chloe’s friend now,_ but Ivan replied before she could.

“Chloe, she said no. Go sit down.”

Chloe huffed, “Fine. Sabrina, we’ll talk at lunch.” she spun around and stomped back down to their normal seats. Their old seats. Chloe’s seat, now.

Sabrina watched Chloe go, and once she was seated turned to Ivan. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “You’re welcome.”

Sabrina smiled, turning back to her bag, and then looking at the door again too. Perfect timing, just as Marinette and Adrien walked in and took their seats. Alya must have slipped in while Sabrina was zoning out too, as she was there to greet Marinette with a fist-bump.

“Hey Sabrina!” Marinette whispered, turning and smiling at her.

“Hi Marinette!” Sabrina waved back, her smile widening. “Everything went well last night?”

Marinette leaned to the side, tilting her head as she did so. “There was a minor hiccup,-” she shrugged, moving back to a normal sitting position. She was so expressive! “-but it all worked out, and Nath came out okay. He might be taking the day off school though.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Alya asked, twisting to join the conversation. “Even if I wasn’t suspended at the time of mine, I would have taken a day off.”

“Yeah.” Sabrina agreed. “It makes sense for Akumatization to be mentally and emotionally taxing, I don’t think anyone will fault him for it.” Except maybe Chloe. And yesterday, Sabrina herself. Like they had with Ivan. Oohhh. She might want to apologize for that.

But what if it was too late? Or her bringing it up just made him mad? They only sat by each other, maybe she should just leave it.

She definitely would apologize to Nathaniel. And maybe Marinette. Her being rude along with Chloe caused it, and that then put her friend in danger.

“They better not,” Alya rolled her eyes.

“If anyone is going to be faulted it will be Hawkmoth. He's the only one who's actually at fault.” Marinette’s eyes hardened as she said it. Sabrina couldn’t blame her. Ever since Hawkmoth had made himself known, Ladybug had been working with the police to make sure Akuma victims were always protected from backlash and victim blaming. It didn't always work.

“Yeah.”

The bell rung then, effectively ending the conversation. Alya and Marinette turned back to the front, and Mylene scurried down to her seat.

“Alright class, settle down!” Mme. Bustier clapped, standing up and walking around to the front of her desk.

Sabrina flipped her bag open and pulled out her tablet, powering it on to see a screen full of notifications. She glanced over at the back of Chloe’s head, then to Marinette’s, right in front of her. Smiling sadly to herself, she tapped ‘Clear all’ and opened her notebook app and study guide. She would be okay. She had Marinette, and Chloe wouldn’t pull her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you feel my pain in keeping Sabrina and Ivan from having more than minimal interactions. This poor bean has such a headspace, and keeping in it is hard. She and Ivan will become friends soon though, I promise!


	3. Bobbing along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: 'I have this figured out'  
> Me: Does not actually have it figured out.  
> I know I'm breaking update formula here, but I'm not making you guys wait three weeks, and if my schedule hadn't changed I would have had it out last night.  
> Anyways! New chapter, more Sabrina, some hanging out, and me glossing over studying.  
> A huge thank you to @Miraculouslysam who beta'd this chapter for me.  
> Hope you all enjoy!

“Homework is a report on how Charley's view of crime was influenced by what we're given by way of his backstory, and how Nancy's death changed those views, followed by a few paragraphs on how much it can affect someone's views and beliefs once it pertains to them personally.”

The class made various noises of understanding, movement rippling through the room as the students packed up their bags and started conversations up again.

“Alright, where are we meeting for lunch?”

“Cafeteria!”

“Marinette's house!”

“Library!”

“I don’t care,” Marinette shrugged, shouldering her backpack. “Sabrina, do you have a preference?”

Sabrina jumped. Hopefully not visibly. They were asking her opinion again. “I’m good with anywhere you guys want to go.” if it was a trick question, that answer was always pleasing.

“But what do you  _ want? _ ” Nino stressed.

Oh dear. Why was  _ Nino _ asking her? Why was he still being friendly? This morning in passing was one thing, but still?

Marinette had to be made of pure sunshine magic if becoming friends with her had started the others giving Sabrina chances overnight.

“Can we go to Marinette’s house? I have a packed  lunch, but I’ve always wanted to see what’s inside the apartment. It looks adorable! Plus I think there should be-” Sabrina paused when she saw the looks the group were giving her. Were those good looks or bad looks? Crap she must have said the wrong thing. How did she forget about trick questions! They had asked her one exactly one minute ago! Oh she had just invited herself and the others over! Bad move! Backtrack! “But we could also do the the Library? That way we’ll have plenty of resources, and-” Still the looks. What about- “And the cafeteria is noisy, but it’s always an option!”

Alya and Marinette turned away, and Sabrina winced. Why did she let her guard drop? She knew better!

“I’m good with either.”

“I still want to go to Marinette’s, but we will probably be more productive in the library.”

“I’m up for hosting.”

“Then it’s settled!” Adrien cheered. “To the bakery!”

Marinette spun back to look at Sabrina. “Does that work?”

Sabrina nodded. “Yes!”

“Come on!” Marinette reached over, holding out a hand. Sabrina tentatively took it, holding her bag firmly in the other.

Alya slipped around the other side of the desk, grabbing Nino’s hand and dragging him around the desk so she could grab Marinette’s free hand too. “Everybody out!”

Nino wrapped his elbow around Adrien’s, dragging him into the weird caterpillar line too.

Sabrina giggled as they twisted to not slam into the doorframe, and maneuvered down the stairs to the ground floor.

“So how far did you three get yesterday?” Marinette asked, planting her feet before Alya and the boys could try to race the crosswalk.

Sabrina cringed. Her group hadn't gotten anything done. Although, considering yesterday's events, that was pretty understandable. Wasn't it?

“Not.” Alya sighed. “Adrien got called home, I was trying to figure out what happened to the Library Akuma - it waited a few hours and then went after Chloe again - and then it was too late to get anything done. I just wish I knew why they laid low for so long. Don’t most akuma  _ not _ want to play the waiting game?”

“Maybe Hawkmoth was trying for a new strategy!” Marinette’s answer was quick, and too nervous. Why was she nervous? Moreover, why didn’t Alya know the akuma went after Marinette?! As Marinette’s other best friend shouldn’t she- wait a moment. Had that become their BFF secret?! That would be so cool! Sabrina swallowed her smile, but she couldn’t stop the growing euphoria. Of course, it was possible she was reading things wrong, but at least for now she could be happy about it.

She knew the rules to secrets. Kind of.

The light turned green, and the caterpillar group was off again. Through the bakery doors, over to the counter to be greeted by Marinette’s parents. Mme. Cheng was shorter than Marinette, but M. Dupain towered over everyone. If Sabrina hadn’t met them before, she would be probably be intimidated. Then they went behind the counter and up the stairs to the actual apartment. The caterpillar group split as they went through the last doorway.

Best way to travel.

“Alright, do we want to be working from my bedroom or here?”

“Here!” Three voices answered.

“Here,” Sabrina tacked on. While she would  _ love _ to see Marinette’s bedroom, she was not going to invite herself, and she wanted to explore the main floor for a little bit.

“Alright!”

The other four picked seats, Alya, Nino and Adrien on the floor, while Marinette collapsed onto the couch. “Now: particle physics!! Sabrina, where do you want to sit?”

Sabrina made an 'I don't care’ noise in her throat, moving to sit on the floor beside Marinette.

“What did we decide on as our outline type?” Nino asked, his voice muffled by being in his bag.

Sabrina snorted at the distortion, before quickly schooling herself.

“I don't know, bubble boy. One of us wrote it down somewhere, didn't we? Also, you left your pens clipped to my notebook, if that's what you're looking for.”

“Yes! Thank you Alya!”

“What's your favorite type of report structure?” Marinette asked, pulling Sabrina's attention away from the second group.

“Oh! Slideshows or collages mostly!” Sabrina answered happily. Mixing pictures with text was fun.

****

They had given up on studying an hour in, after getting a good amount done, and started eating lunch. Or, Sabrina and Adrien were eating lunch, Nino was pretending to be asleep, and Marinette and Alya were fencing with carrots.

Sabrina had not known this was a thing.

“En garde!” Marinette threw her hand out, tapping Alya’s wrist with the carrot.

“You say that at the start of fight, not with every third attack,” Adrien muttered around a mouthful. Neither girl paid attention.

The brunette gasped, yanking her hand back. “You dare attack me? Foul knave, I will smite thee back!”

“I don’t think that’s proper olden grammer,” Nino huffed, now laying on the couch.

“Grammar smammar, I’m fighting for my food!”

“You need grammar to fight internet trolls!” Marinette reminded with a scoff. “But you need to watch closer if you want to fight me!” she twisted her wrist, and plunged the carrot into Alya’s stomach.

“Nooooo!!” Alya flopped onto her back, holding the carrot Marinette had poked her with against her tummy like the hilt of a knife. “Betrayal! Killed by my best friend! Tell my sisters… I love them.”

Marinette snorted, pulling the carrot out of Alya's fingers and biting into it. “Oh dear. Looks like I'll have to destroy the evidence.”

Alya made a rasping noise, lifting off the ground slightly before dropping again.

Sabrina watched the two mess around, unsure if she should be jealous or not. Alya had been friends with Marinette for longer, of course they were more comfortable together! And Marinette had to split her time between the four of them somehow.

It was fun, hanging with the group, but it was weird to be neither the focus nor completely forgotten about. Changes.

“A lot to adjust to in a day?” Adrien asked, nudging her with his shoulder. Sabrina jumped at the contact, but nodded. That was a good way to put it.

“A little bit. But I'm really happy to be here!” she assured him quickly, just in case he went looking for subtext.

“It is a really different environment than hanging with Chloe,” Adrien agreed. “I think they love you already though.”

Sabrina snorted. “I think only my Dad  _ loves _ me. But if they'll put up with me, and if I can keep being best friends with Marinette, that should be fine. Better than fine.”

“Yeah. Marinette's a really good friend.”

“The best.”

Not jealous, Sabrina decided. No, she was content. Happy even. She didn't want this to ever end.

As though she had jinxed it by hoping, a shrill ringing started to echo through the house. Sabrina might have screamed, she definitely jumped and covered her ears.

“Marinette!” Alya called over the din. Why would Marinette be able to help? This sounded like a headache-inducing akuma!

Or one of those alarm tones no one used because they  _ valued their sanity. _

“Got it!” Marinette called, and the sound stopped.

“Did you hook it up to the entire house's sound system?” Nino asked, rubbing his ears. Sabrina followed suit, trying to figure out exactly why that happened.

“Pretty close actually,” Marinette admitted. “Well, let's clean up so we can get back in time.”

Between the five of them it only took a few minutes to gather everything up, and then they were ready to head back to school.

“That was some work done,” Marinette smiled, closing the door behind the group. Sabrina was second to last, with the other three leading the way out.

“Yeah. If we're able to get that much done every day, we'll have it completely done by two days before the due date.”

“Is that a plan you're okay with?”

“Of course!” Sabrina assured her. “We're doing it together. I don't care how many times we meet, as long as it's done on time and I'm not doing it alone.”

“If you're sure. Same time tomorrow then?”

“I'd love that!” Sabrina agreed. “Are we still hanging out this afternoon too?”

Marinette shrugged. “I don’t see why not, as long as you still want to. Barring an akuma attack, of course; if another one attacks you should head home, where it’s safer.”

“You got involved in one last night!”

“Exactly why you should stay away.” Marinette said again. “Unless you have to help, but I would feel a lot better if I knew you were safe too. Alya gives me enough heart attacks on her own.”

“I think avoiding akuma should be basic common sense, shouldn’t it?” Sabrina said it to be reassuring, but realized a moment later she just insulted Alya and Marinette. Backtrack! “Not that Alya doesn’t have common sense!”

“She just wants to keep the Ladyblog going. Most of the time she’s a good reporter though, and it is good to see footage and reports of Akuma.”

“That’s why my blog is the best,” Alya winked, holding the classroom door open for the two of them.

Sabrina almost moved to her original seat, but remembered mid-step that she was sitting by Ivan now. Right. She turned down the aisle, and slid into her new seat.

Ivan wasn’t here yet, but he probably would be soon. In the meantime, maybe she could talk to Marinette more! Or-?

“Hey Sabrina!” Rose leaned over the aisle. “When’s your next free period?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you see my subtle as a rock foreshadowing?  
> Or did I do it right and I only see it as obvious because I know what it's pointing to?
> 
> Anyways, there's also a Galentines oneshot that will be out soon, so keep an eye out!


	4. Gems in the sand

It happened slowly, but Sabrina was able to fall into a type of routine. Go to school, meet up with Marinette and Alya, and sometimes the boys, pay attention in class, ignore Chloe if she decided to try to bash Sabrina again - if this was what it was like for Marinette all those years, the girl had the patience of a saint - make small talk with Ivan, and Rose, and work on learning something not academic-related if she had extra time.

Which she did. A lot.

In the extra time she had since she wasn’t doing two sets of homework, Sabrina mostly used online tutorials to learn how to make jewelry. So far, she had a quarter of a notebook full of designs she wanted to try once she learned the techniques, the patterns she really liked, and a shoebox with seven assorted pairs of earrings, three charms she wasn’t sure what she’d turn into, and a bracelet and a half.

Or, at the moment, the box had one bracelet, since the other was on her lap.

Keeping herself busy while home alone had never been this much of a problem before. Granted, Sabrina hadn’t been home alone with this much free time in… years, probably.

That sounded _sad,_ when she actually said it.

Sabrina threaded a seed bead through the string, then picked another two fire polished beads up, and threaded one onto the string, then another seed, and continued the pattern.

She also had a lot more time to think, which she tried to fight by having audiobook on constantly. She’d been through the first Harry Potter book just this week, and was almost done with the second. She also had the Finishing school series downloaded for next week, by recommendation of Rose.

A melody interrupted Dumbledore and Harry’s talk, and a notification appeared on the top of her screen. Sabrina set the bracelet-in-progress on her bed, and picked her phone up off her knee. She swiped downward, another text coming in as she opened the app.

 

 **Marinette;** Hey Sabrina! Rose, Celeste, Marc, the other art reps and I just got out of M. Damocles’ office, and he’s going to look into getting a teacher to watch the art room! We’re throwing an impromptu party at my house, do you want to join us?

 

Sabrina smiled, laughing to herself. When they’d found out that there was an art room, but it was never used due to there never being a teacher for it, they had been able to band together people from almost every class in the school to appeal to the principle. Marinette and Rose had spearheaded it. She was so proud of them!

 

 **Sabrina;** That’s awesome! I’ll double check with dad, but I should be able to come!

 

She switched chats after sending that to see what Rose said.

 

 **Rose;** Bri! M. Damocles agreed to it! We’re all getting together at Mari’s place to celebrate! Can you come?!

 

Sabrina nodded, switching again to let her dad know she was going to go hang out at the Dupain-Chengs. She told Rose she would be over in a few minutes, and set her phone down. Sabrina carefully picked up her open bracelet and put it away, followed by putting her beads back in their sorting container and putting them both under her bed.

***

Sabrina was waiting at the crosslight again, her phone in her pocket and a smile on her face. She had crossed this road more times this week than in the last three years. She liked it.

Beside her, a little old man was tapping his cane against the floor as he walked forward. Sabrina mirrored the rhythm with her fingers, taking a moment to look at him in more detail. He was wearing a bright shirt with flowers, and dark sunglasses. _Really_ dark sunglasses.

He wasn’t stopping at the curb.

“Monsieur!” Sabrina called, lurching forward to catch his arm as he got got too close to a car’s front end.

He turned his head confusedly, stumbling back onto the safe side of the sidewalk. “Oh dear me. Was the light red again?”

“Er, yes Monsieur,” Sabrina breathed, her empty hand finding its way to her chest. She didn’t even go into traffic and her heart was beating this fast. You’d think Akuma would teach her how to deal with disasters! “Are you okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry.” He patted her hand, the motion drawing Sabrina’s eye. That turtle bracelet was interesting.“I seem to do that weekly, I’m afraid. I get so caught up in my thoughts!”

“It’s understandable, Monsieur. Do try to be more careful though, please? Maybe adjust where you walk so that you tap the pole before you reach the road itself.”

“Now that’s an idea. I will try to remember to try it. Thank you, mademoiselle, for helping me.”

“I couldn’t just stand here,” Sabrina shrugged, her voice too high to be casual. “The light’s green now, would you like me to help you across?”

“I think I’ll be alright, thank you.”

Sabrina let go, nodding. “Of course. Have a good day, Monsieur!”

“You too, mademoiselle.” he nodded back, and started to cross the road. Sabrina followed, her eyes straying back to him over and over.

That bracelet was really pretty. It looked to all be one bead, or at least the larger charm was, but maybe if she used clay she could create something similar? It was definitely worth trying. Later though, Sabrina reminded herself as she reached the bakery door.

The patrons were all at their seats, chatting amongst themselves, so Sabrina waved to Sabine. “Hello Mme. Cheng!”

“Sabrina!” Sabine shot her a smile. “They’re all upstairs, there are aprons by the door.”

“Aprons?”

“They’re painting something. Better safe than sorry, right?”

Sabrina nodded. “Yep! Thank you Mme. Cheng!” She grabbed an apron as she reached the doorway, pulling it over her head and tying it as she climbed the stairs. She pulled the last loop as she reached the apartment door, and knocked.

There was noise echoing out, and although Sabrina couldn’t understand anything being said. they sounded like they were having fun. Hopefully her joining midway through wouldn’t be awkward. She hated that part of spending time with equals, especially in group settings. It had already happened a few times over the week.

Thankfully though, Marinette almost always swooped in before long and brought everyone back together.

 More incentive to always arrive on time.

“Sabrina!” Rose squealed, yanking her into a hug almost the moment the door opened.

A call of “you made it!” came from further inside.

“Come on! We’re making a welcome a poster!”

Sabrina giggled, letting the shorter girl drag her into the living room. Most of the faces she didn’t recognize, but Nathaniel and Alix were in a corner, Juleka was adding designs to one side of the poster, and Marinette was chatting with the class rep from another class. Rose skipped over to join Juleka, picking up a paintbrush and a bottle of glitter.

Rose glanced back up at Sabrina and patted the ground beside her. “Come on!”

Sabrina scurried over and sat down. “What are we drawing?”

“Abstract,” Juleka answered. “To fill in open space, you know?”

“Oooh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a cameo with you-know-who, amirite? I'll be honest, that came out of the left field for me, but hey, bracelets. At this point I don't have any linear plot for this story left, so I think I'll either find a way to bring in Miraculous holder!Sabrina or I'll wrap up this one and move on to one of the other episodes that I can rewrite.  
> Otherwise, we have at least two chapters left? The rocker Brotp is starting to adopt Sabrina too, I just need to give Ivan and Sabrina more interactions out of class, (I barely see him though! Why doesn't he participate in class activities?), and then conclusion.  
> Unless I decide to add in Chloe angst, but for now she's just off on her own, figuring out how to do (blech) homework.


	5. Upgrading the vessel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, back with my unreliable update schedule!  
> Yeah, sorry. In my defense, family got sick, and then I've been on vacation. So limited wifi and busy with other stuff. TABC happened too, (hence the vacation) so I've also got an inspiration kick for my Original stories, but I'm going to finish this! I love writing my little bookworm.

Sabrina double-checked the contents of her bag, stalling for time. It was her first free period since the official instigation of the art club, which meant she was waiting for Marinette or Rose, so she didn’t go in alone and disrupt everything.

Social anxiety was not a problem when no one looked at her.

Sabrina closed her bag, glancing around the hallway again. None of her friends in sight. Sabrina looked through the art room window. The students inside were split into different areas, probably by art form, if she was being logical. Although, some art forms didn’t have much space for logic. Beading did. Beading was strings and beads arranged in logical patterns to achieve the desired effect.

If she overanalized things as simple as hobbies, no one was allowed to judge her.

Sabrina looked to her left as Marinette dashed up to her. “Are you going in?” she asked, hands on her knees.

Sabrina nodded. “Yep! I was just waiting for you.”

Marinette smiled. “Thank you. Shall we go in?”

Sabrina nodded, and pushed the door open. The first thing she noticed was that the welcome poster they had built last week held a place of honor, hanging right in the line of sight from the doorway.

“Hey guys!” Marinette greeted the room at large, her voice as cheerful as ever. A few greetings rang back, and even more students waved. Sabrina recognized Celeste and Adelle from Meliediev’s class, George from her math class, Nathaniel and Alix from her homeroom, and Calista from the police force dinners she could sometimes attend.

“Hello girls!” The art teacher welcomed them with a smile. “I’m M. Broduer.” He went on to explain to Sabrina and Marinette what the different areas of the room were dedicated to. Calista and George were working with clay, Alix was decorating the walls with spray paint, - that explained why the giant windows were open, - Nathaniel had taken over a table for traditional drawing, Adelle had an easel set up on the adjoining table, and there were cushions and one person tables scattered around the room, one of which Celeste had claimed with her phone and a skein of yarn.

Sabrina smiled to herself as she took in the area. You could barely tell it had been a normal classroom last week. Sabrina knew she had been among the less involved helpers, but she still felt proud.

She had been part of the group that did this.

“I’m going to join Nath drawing, alright?”

Sabrina nodded, already having picked herself a chair by the window. “Alright.” Marinette waved, and walked to the side of the room Nathaniel was in. Sabrina dodged the looks from the other students as she set up a table for her beadwork.

She had figured out the design for the turtle bracelet, but she hadn’t built it yet on account of wanting to make an entire set. Earrings, a necklace, the bracelet, and a hairpin. Or clip. She hadn’t decided. She also considered adding a brooch, but that almost seemed like too much. Sabrina hadn’t had much of an opinion on turtles before, so the related ideas definitely counted as sudden.

She had the earrings done, and had packed the supplies for the main part of the hairpiece thismorning.

Sabrina spread out her containers, and pulled out her spool of string. She pinned her notebook open to check her designs, and started to unwind the required amount of string.

She sighed to herself, listening as M. Broduer told Marinette to watch the students while he stepped out to grab another pack of paper towels. It felt nice, not being alone, but not being expected to do anything with the other people.

“Oh that is pretty! Too bad it’s going to look wrong in execution. Unless you have a tutor here with you? Oh wait- you can’t afford one without my help!”

Sabrina jumped, pulling the thin string too tight against her fingers. She glanced at Chloe out of the corner of her eye, pointedly not turning her head.

She hated this part.

“What’s your project, Chloe?” Calista asked, her contempt thinly veiled, even from two rows away.

Her call alerted some of the other students to Chloe’s presence. The mayor’s daughter tossed her head and sniffed. “Oh, I’m just checking out how you peasants spend your time. It looks like you use it to make mud pies and ruin your clothes.”

“Oh shut up Chloe,” Marinette snapped.

“You don’t have to be here,” Calista added. “Not if you’re so worried about ruining your designer jacket with ‘dirt’ from our projects.” Calista flicked her hands slightly as she said it. None of the clay splashed off, but Chloe still flinched.

“ _Please.”_ Chloe scoffed, turning back to Sabrina. “Sabrina, when you get tired of those stupid bangles you’re trying to make, the offer to be my best friend again still stands.” Sabrina didn’t have to be looking to know that Chloe’s blue eyes were narrowed at her back. “But this is the last week. You’ve been testing my patience long enough, after this week you won’t get to come back.” another scoff, and Sabrina turned to see Chloe walking off, head held high and hips swinging.

Marinette and Calista were by her side moments later. “Are you okay?” Marinette asked.

“That was just acting like an elitist brat,” Calista muttered.

“I’ll be fine,” Sabrina breathed. “Do you think she’ll actually leave me alone once the week is over?”

Marinette snorted. “I hope so. You’d think she would have gotten the message already. Do you want to go back to beading on your own, or do you want one of us to move to by you?”

Sabrina took a deep breath, thinking it over. She had gotten more used to her opinion being valued in the month – It had really been a month, oh goodness – since cutting ties with Chloe, but she was still good at being indecisive. You know what, she had been wanting to make clay beads for the necklace and bracelet anyway, might as well do it now with the present materials. “Calista, would you mind if I joined you and George in the pottery corner?”

“Not at all,” Calista shrugged. “Come on over!”

***

Sabrina washed her hands slowly, making sure to get all the clay out from underneath her fingernails. She had decided to shape three turtle charms, and they had turned out surprisingly well. Sabrina was glad she had studied clay techniques last week, they wouldn’t have come out nearly as nicely if she was actually flying blind.

Although, Calista had been a lot of help too. The few times Sabrina had gotten stuck, Calista had jumped to explain what had happened and how to combat it.

Sabrina dried her hands and headed back into the art room. This time she didn’t wait for anyone before entering. Marinette was already inside, anyway. Sabrina waved to Calista as she passed her, and sat back down at her table.

She started to untangle the string from earlier, working from a plan she had come up with while shaping the beads. Calista had an affinity for collecting anything star related, so Sabrina was going to use that and make her a bronze and blue bracelet with a pretty simple repeating star pattern.

She had gotten through four rows of set up beads before another squeal at her ear caused her to jump. Rose had entered and somehow ended up right beside Sabrina without her noticing.

“Oh my goodness those drawings are _so cute!_ Are you going to make them?”

Sabrina nodded shakily, forcing herself to breathe. Rose meant nothing by the jump scare. “Yeah, that- that’s the plan.”

“That’s so cool!” Rose squeaked, fanning herself.

“Thank you,” Sabrina smiled.

“What are they?” Sabrina jumped at Ivan’s voice. When had she become so disjointed with her surroundings that she missed both- no, all three, Juleka was there too – entering the room?

“Jewelry designs,” Sabrina gestured at her bead container.

“They look intricate,” Ivan commented.

“They are. But they’re fun to make.”

“That’s so cool Bri!” Rose squealed, a hint of pride in her voice.

“What are you guys working on?” Sabrina asked in lieu of another reply.

“We’re forming a band for the competition in a few months,” Juleka explained. “Ivan is writing the music, Luka and I will be playing, and Rose is going to write the lyrics and be our lead singer,”

“I didn’t know there was a band competition coming up!” Sabrina said.

“It’s not too well known yet. We’re getting an early start from a heads up from Juleka’s uncle.” Rose added.

“Cool! Do you have anything for it yet or are you just starting?”

“We have a little figured out,” Ivan shrugged.

“Do you want to listen?” Rose offered.

Sabrina nodded. “If that’s okay, I’d love to!”

Rose reached into her bag and pulled out a bright pair of headphones. “I don’t have all the lyrics figured out, but Ivan, Luka, and Juleka did amazing on the instrumentals on saturday.”

Sabrina took the headphones, settling them on her head carefully so as to not squish the flower hairpin she was still wearing.

“Ready?” Rose asked loudly. Sabrina nodded. Rose tapped her phone screen, and a mixture of pop-rock and metal filled Sabrina’s ears. The notes fluctuated, but even as they switched instrumentals they still followed each other nicely.

Sabrina smiled, bopping her head to the beat. Ivan was pretty good. “You guys are going to kill it in the competitions!” She called. She said it loud enough that Marinette and George looked over, not that she noticed Marinette’s soft smile with her focus on Rose’s blinding one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so a lovely commenter under the name of [ShowKid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Show_Kid/pseuds/Show_Kid) suggested Ivan and sabrina bonding by planning surprise dates for Mylene, and that opened up an entire other side of the storyline for me. *Taps fingers excitedly* I'm so excited to write it.  
> I love it when a story just falls into place.


	6. Officially voting in the new shipmaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Also known as 'Organized Mutiny' and 'Order on the ship'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I give up on a schedule. Sorry guys. This chapter is extra long to make up for it though! (It's over double the length of the previous longest chapter, which was chapter two at 2129.)
> 
> I've been homeschooled my entire life, so the entire thing of presidency elections and whatnot is all guesswork. Hopefully it's believable.

Chloe had not, in fact, left her alone once the week was up. Instead, Sabrina learned that Chloe had been holding back over the past month. Go figure. And while Sabrina still had some problems defending herself, for every scathing comment Chloe sent her way, one of her friends would have a supportive comeback.

In short, life wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty amazing!!!

Did she mention she had seven friends now?  _ Seven!! _ Marinette, George, Alya, Calista, Rose, Nino, and Adrien. And she was on tentatively good terms with the rest of her fellow students. That had never happened before! She could greet people and be greeted back,  _ positively. _

And sometimes it wasn’t her making first contact!

Like today, for instance.

“Good morning Sabrina!” Calista called, waving excitedly in the hallway.

“Good morning Calista!” Sabrina couldn’t help the smile as she dashed up and hugged Calista. “Did you have a good afternoon?”

“Oh it was amazing! I ended up in the catacombs, which yes I know is really dangerous, but I found some really cool stuff. I’m even checking with my dad to see if it counts as property open to the public. And even if I can’t keep it, I have like twenty pictures.”

“Oohh,” Sabrina breathed. Calista had shown in the past week that she had an affinity for finding the coolest things in the most random places. “Can you text me some of them? Or are they all on your camera?”

“Camera,” Calista said sadly. “But I’m going to print them this afternoon. The brooch was so pretty!” Calista sighed wistfully. “Anyway,” she turned her full attention to Sabrina. “How’s your turtle set coming along?”

“It’s coming,” Sabrina answered, rocking on the balls of her feet. “I think I’m ready to put a finishing coat on the main beads, finally.”

“Aw yes!” Calista jumped. “I can’t wait to see the finished product. I have told you how talented you are with beadwork, right?”

“You have,” Sabrina answered around a smile. Calista had said it at least five times in the past week. Especially after Sabrina had given her the star bracelet. Which Calista had worn every day since.

“Well I’m saying it again, you’re super talented, and the turtle set is going to come out looking so amazing.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Sabrina blushed.

“Cally!” One of Calista’s classmates skidded up to the pair. “Cally! Christian and Lucien are trying to claw each other’s hearts out.”

Calista sighed. “This is what I get for running for class rep. Well, better go stop them from getting hurt. See you later Sabrina!” She waved, her classmate latching onto her arm.

“See you!” Sabrina waved as Calista was dragged off by her classmate. Sabrina continued along the upper hallway to her classroom.

“Hey Sabrina!!” Alya leant over Marinette’s empty seat and held out a fist, Sabrina tapped it happily with her own as she passed.

“Hi Alya!

“Morning Ivan!” He glanced over at her, and she caught a small smile as he nodded to her before resuming his conversation with Mylene. Sabrina was… bad… in the love department, but even she could see how in love the two of them were.

Finding someone that compatible for herself in a few years would be a dream come true. For now though, Sabrina would just watch their love bloom happily.

She walked up to her seat, stopping to greet her almost-friend in the back row. “Hi Juleka.” the goth gave a tiny one-handed wave and muttered ‘Hello’ back.

Sabrina even chanced a wave at Nathaniel before she turned and slid into her seat. The redhead gave her a similar wave as Juleka had.

“Good morning Sabrina!” Rose called, skipping up the steps. “Good morning Juleka! Good morning Ivan! Good Morning Adrien, Good morning Mylene! Good Morning Alya! Good Morning Nino! Good morning Nate! Good Morning Max! Good Morning Kim!”

A chorus of ‘Good morning Rose!’ echoed back at the peppy blonde. Rose smiled as she slid into her seat in the back row.

Chloe stalked into the room, head held high. She sent a smirk to the back of the room, and Sabrina shivered. That was not a good kind of smirk. Sabrina hoped that Chloe was just acting haughtily to ride on her father’s coattails. M. Bourgeois was on his way to winning the mayoritorial elections,  _ again. _ M. D’Argentcourt had been thoroughly humiliated throughout his campaign. At times it seemed the entire city was working against him.

Power players such as Andre were probably why the Americans had a limit on how many terms a leader could serve.

Sabrina listened in on the various conversations as she waited for Mme. Bustier to arrive.

Max was describing an idea for an AI with emotions to Juleka; Rose, Alix, and Mylene had started to talk about shades of the Color pink, and Kim was saying something about not being afraid of anything Ivan would ever know about, - spiders, if it hadn’t changed from when Sabrina had gathered blackmail info last year so that no one would run against her and Chloe in-

_ Oh crap. _

Class representative elections had been making their way around the school this month. Calista had just been voted in on Friday.

Her life had changed a lot in two months. A lot, because she used to have the dates to start gathering information ingrained into her internal clock, and knew exactly what it was for every time. She had thought her secret hunting urges were just because she was so excited about Kitty Section forming and that she knew Nathaniel had been working on a secret project. She’d completely forgotten about elections.

Sabrina had never considered herself someone for whom adaptation was easy, and yet here she was.

“Oh it would be  _ amazing _ if we got cushioned seats this year. Do you think that whoever gets elected would do that?”

Mylene hummed. “I don’t know, Rose, Chloe definitely wouldn’t.”

“Well no, but Chloe doesn’t have to be the rep this year.”

“She doesn’t?”

“I mean,” Rose took a breath and then leaned forward so she could talk to Sabrina. “Bri, are you gonna help Chloe run for rep this year?”

Sabrina wasted no time shaking her head, keeping her gaze stubbornly on Rose’s face. “Nope.”

Rose smiled, turning back to Mylene. “See?”

“Yeah, okay. But who’s going to run instead?”

“Good question!” Rose leaned over her desk again. “Bri, are you going to run?”

Sabrina paused at that. She hadn’t thought about it. She considered it for a moment, waving to Marinette as she entered, then turned and told Rose she really didn’t know, adding on a “besides, I don’t think I’d be that good at being in charge. I might run for assistant rep.”

“Wait does that mean we’ll have fair elections this year?” Marinette asked, turning around in her seat.

Sabrina nodded.

Marinette pumped her fist. “Yes! Have we decided who’s running this year?”

“I want to run for rep,” Rose admitted. “It’ll be fun to try.”

“I’m running too!” Kim added loudly. “This time she can’t hold my fear of spi-something against me!”

“Can’t I, Kim?” Chloe’s icy voice interrupted. Sabrina watched as she sashayed up the aisle and slammed her hand onto Kim’s desk. “I don’t have anything new to use against you, but don’t think for a minute that I won’t use what I still have.” Chloe turned her glare to Sabrina. She flinched. Chloe looked triumphant about that. “I don’t  _ need _ Sabrina to keep you plebeians in line.

“Anybody who runs against me this year will meet the same fate as previous years.” She yawned into her hand. “I’ll just have to go without an assistant this year.” Chloe turned away and sashayed back down the stairs. She slid into her seat, head held high.

Mme. Bustier clapped her hands before the conversation could continue.

The subdued attitude carried through the rest of class, and only worsened when Mme. Bustier officially announced that the Class Representative election for their class would happen this week, and that anyone who wanted to run needed to decide by fourth period, and have their paperwork in by Tuesday morning.

“I had been so excited,” Rose lamented, setting her tray down between Juleka and Sabrina. The entire class, sans Chloe, had gathered for lunch in the cafeteria.

“Is Chloe really that bad of a class representative?” Adrien asked.

The emphatic  _ Yes _ from the rest of the class had him flinching. Sabrina felt a little sorry for him. She , at least, had no misconceptions as to what Chloe was like when they were friends. Or, less misconceptions. It was worse from the other side, but not by too much.

“I don’t think we should let her have her way this year.” Alix stated. “I mean, Marinette already told her to take her bad attitude somewhere else, why don’t we all help reinforce that idea? Between the, what, thirteen? Of us, most of her threats won’t actually mean anything, right?”

“Yeah!” Kim cheered.

Max cleared his throat. “As much as I hate to kill the mood, Chloe's threats do still apply. She can still spill secrets, and she has enough pull with the school board that she can still carry them out, just not with the same amount of ease as previous years.”

Alix groaned, laying her head on the table. “Her tyranny has to end somewhere.”

“What if we blackmail her back?” Juleka asked, forking a piece of (furd) into her mouth. Sabrina jolted, staring at her flabbergasted. Apparently she wasn't the only one, because Juleka shrunk in on herself a bit a moment later. “It was just a suggestion.”

“There's got to be someone she has nothing on,” Alix huffed. “Wait a minute, Sabrina?”

Sabrina froze as all eyes turned on her.

“Alix, what are you asking?” Ivan asked, a hint of accusation in his tone. Sabrina wasn't sure which girl it was truly aimed at.

“Who doesn't she have blackmail on.” Alix said again. “Sabrina, you know this, right?”

Sabrina nodded slightly. She didn't like it when the past was brought up, she had tormented them so much, but it was inevitable in this situation. She took a deep breath before answering, hoping her voice stayed factual and firm. “Kind of.  _ I  _ don't have anything on Marinette, Alya, or Adrien. But Chloe might have found something else since I left.”

At her words, the class erupted. Sabrina winced at the overlapping yells, moving to cover her ears. Some of the noise was cheers, some were questions, Kim was making a lot of it,  _ really it was just too much, too much, she couldn't think, how could thirteen people make so much noise- _

There was a bang as Marinette stood up, slamming her hands onto the table. “Guys!” her shout cut through the din surprisingly well. The class turned to look at Marinette instead of each other. “One at a time,” she ordered calmly.

Sabrina lowered her hands back tO her lap, taking a deep breath in the relative calm.

Rose raised her hand.

“Yes Rose?”

“If you run, do you think we can build a petition for scrapbooking club like we did for the art room?”

Marinette flushed scarlet. “I don't think I'll run, but I can definitely help you set that up if Chloe closes it.”

“Girl, why wouldn’t you run?” Alya asked. “You might be the only one who can.”

“What?” Marinette sat back down, turning so she could focus her incredulous look on Alya. “I can't lead people! And even if I could, I don't have enough time to do so properly.”

“Well I can’t be class rep around the Ladyblog, and Adrien is always busy.”

Sabrina could bring up a few examples to fight most of the points Marinette had brought up. The time one was the only thing she couldn’t argue against. But.. Hadn’t she said she wanted to be assistant rep? After running both her and Chloe’s lives for years, there was at least one thing she was good at, and that was managing events around the rest of lives. And time as a whole. As long as Marinette was okay with that, of course.   
“I could help with the time thing,” she rushed out, closing her eyes. She didn’t want to see what they thought of that. Rose would be supportive, but she didn’t know how the others would act.   
There was no sound from the rest of the table. Had she just ruined their friendship by going against what Marinette had said? Oh she hoped not, she had only been trying to help!

“What about your own schedule?” Marinnette asked.

Sabrina opened her eyes. Marinette didn’t look mad, thank goodness. Instead she looked… worried?

“Oh I can manage mine with time to spare!” she assured her. “It’s not a problem to help, really.”

“If you’re sure you want too, that could work.” Marinette said slowly. “But I don’t want to be an absentee rep for everyone.”

“I could run with you, and we could work together, like with the project! Find times that work for both of us, and then just plan a few weeks in advance.”

Marinette’s smile was worth taking the chance to say that. “I think that could work.”   
Rose started clapping, and soon the entire class was too. Sabrina blushed at the praise.   
She just kept topping herself at how happy and important she could feel. They weren’t clapping only for her, of course it was for Marinette too, but still.

***

Sabrina rocked on her heels at the apartment door. Marinette had offered for her to come over Tuesday night for them to get a strategy working. Sabrina was late, an akuma had attacked while she was on her way to Marinette’s house. She hoped Marinette wouldn’t be upset.   
There were footsteps on the other side, and then Marinette yanked the door open. “Sabrina are you okay?”

“Yeah. I was able to hide.” Sabrina assured her quickly.   
“Oh thank goodness.” Marinette hugged her. “Come on in.” she pulled back and opened the door wider. Sabrina smiled and followed her inside and upstairs.   
“So where should we start?” Marinette asked, plopping into her desk chair and sliding over to her desk. She picked up a box and a screwdriver off her desk, and then spun to face Sabrina. “Do you mind if I work while we talk?”   
Sabrina shook her head. “Not at all! What are you working on?”

“A locking box,” Marinette shrugged. “I figured that even though she shouldn’t realistically be able to get up here, I might as well lock up my diary anyway.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Sabrina agreed.

“Do you want me to make you one too after I’m done?”

Sabrina shook her head. “I’ve got my own measures. Thank you for the offer though!”

Marinette smiled. “Good on you.”   
“So how are we running this campaign? Chloe normally trys to ruin her competition, but that doesn’t seem like a very you thing to do.”

“Definitely not,” Marinette agreed emphatically. “I was considering a full speech, you know?”

“I can help with speeches,” Sabrina agreed. “And you’ve come up with some good ones on the spot before, so this one is bound to turn out amazing!”

Marinette giggled. “Thanks Sabrina.

“Oh! We have to do the paperwork first! How did I forget that?” Marinette spun her chair again, setting the box on her desk so she could open up her computer. A few minutes later her printer was running. “Okay, there’s that.”

Marinette handed Sabrina her set of papers, and sat down with her own. “Do you need a pen?”

“Yes please,” Sabrina answered. Marinette passed her a pen, and they got to work.   
Line one; year, class, and name.

 

As it turned out, Marinette did a lot more work than Chloe ever had while they ran. In years past, Sabrina and Chloe had won immediately for lack of competition. Now, she and Marinette were running against Chloe. And even though they knew most would vote for them instead, Marinette was determined to be a worthy candidate, not just someone who was voted for instead.   
And that was just from the first night of planning and preparing!

Sabrina loved her.

Laying on Marinette’s bedroom floor, Sabrina ticked off another few boxes concerning her health status before looking back up at Marinette. Marinette was beside Sabrina, her cheeks puffed, and her legs kicking back and forth violently.   
Sabrina pursed her lips, looking down at the next question on the form.  _ Why do you think you’ll be a good candidate? _ That one was tricky. Why did she?   
Organizational skills would work as a reason, right?

“Sabrina, did they nominate me just because I wasn’t Chloe?” Marinette asked, flopping onto her back.

Sabrina looked over, puffing her own cheek. “I doubt it. You have the makings of a good leader. You’re super nice and check on everyone. Or, almost everyone.” She didn’t name the one person she didn’t think Marinette took care of, that was obvious. But still. “That’s what the representative does anyway, right? Take care of everyone?” And really, Marinette had a big enough heart to take care of even Chloe if it came to it.

Marinette sighed. “Yeah. I just don’t want anybody to think I’m only doing it because it’s my responsibility.”

Sabrina hummed. “I don’t think anyone would think that. I mean,” she forced a laugh. “Look at me! I went from the second most hated girl in our grade to someone with actual friends in four weeks after you offered. And that was all before this.” She looked down at her hands. “They’d have to have pretty bad memories to think you only help because you have to.”

Marinette chuckled. “I don’t think we have anyone with memory problems in our class.”

Sabrina smiled, and turned back to her forms. The sound of pencils reigned for a minute, and then; “Thank you Sabrina. I needed to hear that.”

“No problem.”

You know, support for her friends and good at making things happen were both things that would be good on this. She might as well.  
In the margins, she ends up scribbling an extra note.  
_Mostly to support Marinette._

***

“How do you speech?” Marinette asked, glaring at her tablet screen as though it had personally offended her.

This prep meeting was at Sabrina’s house, so they were sitting on Sabrina’s bed to brainstorm and write Marinette’s electoral speech.

“Be personal, don’t ramble too much, stay engaged, metaphors are only good if they’re simple or you explain them, bulletpoint a point a minute if you have that much time or that many topics, uhhh,” Sabrina leant over Marinette’s side to look at her screen. “That looks pretty good, actually. Do you want me to start the stopwatch and see if it fits in the time?”

Marinette shook her head. “I’m gonna revise it again first.”   
Sabrina shrugged. “OKay.” She sat back up, and pulled her beadwork back onto her lap. She was working on a new set of more casual jewelry, pink flowers for this one’s theme. The turtles weren’t done yet, she had run out of the type of clasp and hadn’t been able to get more yet, but she was okay with that.

“Ah-ha!” Marinette exclaimed. “I think I got it! Where’s the stopwatch?”

Sabrina grabbed it from it’s pocket on her lap tray. “Right here. Want me to watch it?”   
“Sure. Thank you!”

Sabrina set up the clock and started counting down. “Three, two one, go!” She hit start, and Marinette took off, her voice loud, if a bit shaky.

“So as you know, I’m running for class rep-”

***

“Alya I think I’m gonna die,” Marinette said in lieu of a usual greeting as she slid into her seat.

It didn’t help Sabrina’s nerves at all.

Alya sighed, turning slightly to look at her friend. “Marinette, you’ll be fine. You and Sabrina worked on this all week, you’re going to kill it.”

“But what if we don’t?” Marinette asked, grabbing Alya’s shoulders.

“Marinette, you’re going up against  _ Chloe.” _

“Which is why I’m worried!”   
“You’ll be fine. She’s not that big of a threat.”   
Marinette didn’t seem convinced, but she let the subject drop. “Any luck getting an interview with Ladybug?” she asked instead.   
As Alya descended into an excited ramble about the two minutes of talking she got to do with Ladybug yesterday, Marinette did a half-turn and waved. Sabrina waved back, trying to smile. She didn’t really feel it had come out right.

She was really nervous. Really, really nervous. They had been prepping all week, but there was still a small margin for error. And that small margin would become a big margin if there was an akuma attack or if Chloe came up with a really good plan.

“Are you okay?”

Sabrina jumped at Ivan’s question. “Yep! Of course! No problems here! Not nervous or anything! Heh.” From the look on his face, he didn’t believe her in the slightest. “No,” she sighed. “I’ve broken away from Chloe, but this is the first time I’ll be directly opposing her since the project. I’m worried.”

Ivan shrugged. “We’ve all been scared of Chloe at one point or another. Don’t worry, if she tries anything, we’ll have your back.”

Sabrina smiled. She and Ivan hadn’t talked too much in the four weeks since she started to sit by him, but she felt like they were almost friends anyway. “Thanks Ivan.”   
“Alright class, settle down. Before we start our lesson today, I have to remind you that elections are this afternoon at city hall, so be sure to be there!”

Sabrina felt her gut clench again, and she stubbornly did not look towards Chloe’s bench.

Classes passed in a blur. Sabrina almost never had trouble paying attention, but today she was very out of it. She kept going through scenarios in her head that grew increasingly dire as the hours passed. The only things she could remember in detail were the talks inbetween classes. A lot of ‘good luck!’s were sent their way, and George and Calista even pulled her aside to give her a few packages of chocolate. Calista had said something about being excited to see her in presidency meetings.

Sabrina was really glad they had an hour between school and the elections. It was set so kids in fencing or scrapbooking would be able to go to both.

Sabrina stood on the school steps, trying to figure out where she’d go in the interim. She and Marinette had decided that the best thing to do would be to go propless, so she didn’t need to go home. She found herself watching Chloe saunter up to her car. Her dad had officially won the elections today. It was a fact that just made Sabrina more nervous. Chloe turned at the door, and smirked. Sabrina whined in her throat. Was it too late to back out?

“Want to spend the wait at my house?”

Yes, it was. Sabrina turned to shook Marinette a shaky smile. Marinette needed the support. “That sounds amazing.”

“You don’t sound too good,” Marinette noted. “Are you going to be okay? Do you just need to breathe for a bit?”

“I think so,” Sabrina nodded. Breathing sounded nice.

“Come on, we can watch a few episodes of something while we wait.”

They ended up watching lighthearted and simple cartoons, while eating some of Marinette’s scarily large cookie collection, to keep them from fretting too much. Eventually though, the alarm to start towards the city hall rung, and they were pulled back to the present.

“Ready?” Marinette asked, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

“Not at all,” Sabrina admitted.

“Me neither,” Marinette confirmed. “Better when it’s over, right?”

“Normally,” Sabrina agreed. “We should go before I decide I can’t.”

“Then let’s go.”

  
  


“Hey Sabrina?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for volunteering to have my back.”

“You’re welcome. I mean, we made a good team, right?”

“Yeah.”

 

They were only a block away from the hall when Marinette’s phone started going off. She dug it out, and held it between herself and Sabrina. “What’s up, Alya?”

“Chloe’s trying to buy votes,” Alya’s annoyed tone came through the speaker. “With Jagged Stone tickets.”

That sounded like Chloe.

“For real?” Marinette asked.

“For real. How close are you?”

“Just around the corner,” Marinette assured her. “Sabrina and I will be there in just a minute.”

“Alright, see you soon.”

“Jagged Stone tickets,” Marinette huffed. “Of course she’s going for a bribe.”

“We knew she would do something,” Sabrina sighed.

“Yeah. Well, let’s get in there and show her that money can’t buy everythinG!” Marinette said enthusiastically. Her nerves at least, seemed to have dissipated into fury. Sabrina couldn’t say the same for her own.

All the same, there were a lot of things money couldn’t buy. Like true friendship.

The girls entered city hall, and were greeted with the cheers of some classmates.

“Yeah! Come show us what you’ve got!” Alix yelled, her eyes alight with excitement.

Sabrina smiled a bit. She wasn’t going up against a hostile crowd. She was by Marinette’s side. She could do this.

And then the akuma attacked.

***

“I didn’t abandon anyone,  _ Chloe!” _ Marinette snapped. “I got knighted while trying to close the upper windows.”

Everyone had been knighted by the end of the fight. It was scary, watching the darkness close in, not knowing if Marinette was safe - which she wasn’t - and knowing they were doomed too.

Adrien cracked some pun about it being a knightmare to be knighted, and Sabrina had to agree. She would be having nightmares for a week.

“Well, obviously only one of you showed any actual leadership skills during the attack, so I think we all know who we’re voting for,” Alya said sassily. Sabrina took s step back at Chloe’s scowl.

“Not so fast Alya,” Marinette said.

“See! She’s already throwing in the towel! Obviously I’m the best representative, I can handle the job.”

“That’s not what she said,” Sabrina muttered. Chloe’s glare snapped to her. She took another step back.

“Sabrina’s right,” Marinette said. “I said it wasn’t time for voting yet, not that I was quitting.” She turned to the class at large. Sabrina could feel a speech coming on. “I don’t want you all to vote for me based on one interaction, and I don’t want you to vote for me because I’m not Chloe. I want you to cast your votes to who you think will actually do the job best. I won’t be able to do everything, but I’m good at finding compromises and thinking outside the box. Sabrina’s extremely good at schedules, and finding all the hurdles we need to jump to get to a specific goal. We’re good partners, and I promise we’ll both do our best. So, vote for Marinette and Sabrina as Class Representatives!”

Sabrina and Alya were the first to clap, followed by Adrien and Rose, and then everyone but Chloe and the mayor.   
“Go ahead and go vote Class. I’m sure we’re all eager to have our representatives chosen for the year,” Mme. Bustier encouraged. The entirety of the not-nominated classmates surged forward at once.

Marinette meanwhile, stepped up to Sabrina’s side. “So, uh, that went...” she trailed off with a nervous laugh.

“As far from plan as possible?” Sabrina offered.   
“Yeah, that’s a good way to describe it,” Marinette agreed. “I completely forgot my speech.”

“It sounded good anyway.”

Their conversation was stopped by Mme. Bustier clapping. “Alright students! Marinette, Chloe, Sabrina, please come up so we can announce the winner!”

“Come on!” Marinette whispered excitedly, holding out her hand. Sabrina took it, trying not to squeezed too hard.

Chloe kept her head up as she joined them, but Sabrina knew the look of fury in her eyes. She bit back another whimper.

“The votes have been counted,” Mme. Bustier said. “And the winners are...” she paused for emphasise. Sabrina caught onto her wording though. She took a deep breath, and fixed a smile on her face. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Sabrina Raincomprix!”

Alya and Rose squealed from where they were in the crowd, and Sabrina wasn’t able to fully turn to smile at Marinette before Rose tackled her.

“You did it! Sabrina I’m so proud of you! I just know you’re going to be amazing!” Rose pulled back, wiping her eyes. “I’m so proud. You’ve just bloomed!” and then she burst into tears.

Sabrina didn’t know what to do with that. Was Rose okay? She didn’t know, but Juleka seemed to think so.

She took her friend’s arm gently. “Come on Rose, let others congratulate her too.” She looked up and smiled at Sabrina. “Congratulations, Sabrina.” Juleka led Rose over to tell Marinette congratulations too, and then Sabrina lost sight of them in the crowd of classmates. It was only her class there, but it felt like a lot more while they were all wishing her good luck and offering congratulations.   
Eventually the stream died down, and Sabrina could breathe again. She turned to find Alya primed with her phone.

“Come on girls, lets get some smiles! I’ve got to put this on the school blog!”

Marinette found her way back to Sabrina’s side, and they took a moment to pose. Once Alya had the picture, she rushed up to give kisses goodbye, claiming she had a family engagement she was already late for.   
“I guess this is it then?” Marinette said.

“Yeah.”

“This year is going to be wild.”

Sabrina agreed. It had already been wild, between the Akumas and magic and the shifting power structures.

“I’m glad I have you as a partner in this,” Marinette said, setting an arm on her shoulder. “Thank you, really.”

“I like doing things I’m good at,” Sabrina said honestly. “And I want to support you and the others. I’m just glad you gave me a chance.”   
“Of course.”

Sabrina smiled, and in a spur of the moment, she held out her fist. “Pound it?”

Marinette smiled even wider, if that was possible, and tapped her own to it. “Pound it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This boat is getting ready to go wild. ;)  
> I'm having excited Author feels I love this.


End file.
